Ryan Miller knows how it looked. Amid trade talk and bitter encounters with fans last spring the Sabres’ goaltender put his house up for sale.

Miller’s breakup with Buffalo appeared final and he seemed determined not to let the door hit him on the way out.

“The way it all kind of worked out it does look like it’s just ‘OK I’m outta here’ ” Miller said Wednesday.

But in the four-plus months since Miller waved goodbye to Western New York an interesting thing happened. Nothing.

The Sabres kept him unable to orchestrate a trade suitable to their liking so Miller is back in town for training camp. He’s been saying hello to the same people who watched him bid farewell.

“A lot of people have been happy to have me back. I feel the same way” Miller said in First Niagara Center. “I have a great connection with the city and I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’m just looking forward to getting started and do it all over again.”

Before unpacking his pads Miller had to find a place to live. He’s renting downtown after selling his Elmwood Village townhouse for a hefty profit. He insists that plan was hatched long before the trade rumors started.

“The sale of the place that played out a little differently than I thought it would” Miller said. “People are either going to believe this or they’re not but I’ve watched a lot of guys in this town sit on a residence that they’ve had after they’ve left town for a couple years. After I got married I decided at a certain point that house wasn’t going to be good enough for a family at a certain point. I identified a time I was going to sell it and it was going to be in the last year of my deal so I didn’t get stuck with it.

“I thought it was a smart business decision to at least have it on the market in the last year of my deal so I didn’t get lowballed. People they know you’re out of town they know they can lowball you. That was my thinking. Then the way it played out of course I just had to laugh to myself and say this is not going to be looking good to the people of Buffalo.”

Miller knows an improved team would look good to Buffalonians. Missing the playoffs in four of the last six seasons has taken a toll on fans with Miller often feeling the brunt of their anger.

“They’re losing a little bit of patience” he said “but I think that you start to see a situation here where you can build something good and you can build something that’s going to last. That’s what I want to be a part of whether this is the last season that I can make a difference or it’s going to continue forward.

“I just want to make sure I’m a positive influence on this team moving forward and that Buffalo has a lot of success or a foundation to build success on in the future because I do care about this area and the people. I do believe they deserve to be cheering about a team deep into June. My hope is we can do that this year.”